Irish Names

By Fidelma Maguire and Donnchadh Ó Corráin

A tremendous resource and reference book, with almost a thousand Irish names culled from works going back To The early medieval period with the historical background for each. Useful in tracing family... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0946640661
• ISBN13: 9780946640669
• Release Date: January 2018
• Publisher: The Lilliput Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 7.8" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Mommie, why is my name spelled Aoife?

A great reference text for understanding the origins of Irish names, this work is commonly used by the Celtic Resurgence movement in the SCA and by those who watched too much Riverdance and need a new baby name.And by those of us wanting to trace back historical names of our ancestors into the parish directories and family records buildings of our homeland across the puddle.Whatever your purpose, this is a great book!

Great Source for Historical Recreationists (i.e. SCA)

This book is a top-notch source for those in the Society for Creative Anachronism, who wish to register an Irish name for their personna. The names are dated to the time of their popularity, and several spelling variations are provided. Also, the pronounciation guide in the beginning of the book is of great benefit to those trying to wrap there toungues around Gaelic.

Very useful in tracing Irish roots

This book has been very handy in tracing back the Irish side of my family. The tradition in Ireland was to name the firstborn son after the father's father, the firstborn daughter after the father's mother, the secondborn son after the mother's dad and the secondborn daughter after the mother's mother. So from looking at the names of your Irish grandmother's siblings, for example, you can make a pretty good guess as to her grandparents' names. However, during the 19th Century and even before, Irish names were being traded in for English-sounding names. So your grandfather Bernard might be named after his grandfather Brian, or Anthony might be named after Hewney, since both names can be used to anglicize the Irish name Uaithne. This book is a big help with such translations. It also provides a bit of history on many Irish names, plus some guidance with pronunciation. It seems like quite an impressive piece of scholarship. Also recommended: Irish First Names, by Ronan Coghlan, which takes a somewhat lighter tone but is still a useful reference.